Four Indian authors and two authors of Pakistani origin have made it to the shortlist of the $25,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2018. The names were announced at an event in the London School of Economics & Political Science on Wednesday.
The shortlisted writers are Jayant Kaikini for No Presents Please (translated from Kannada by Tejaswini Niranjana); Kamila Shamsie for Home Fire ; Manu Joseph for Miss Laila Armed And Dangerous ; Mohsin Hamid for Exit West ; Neel Mukherjee for A State Of Freedom ; and Sujit Saraf for Harilal & Sons .
Now in its eighth year, the DSC Prize is an international literary award focused on South Asian fiction writing. The jury panel this year included Rudrangshu Mukherjee, Claire Armitstead, Nandana Sen, Firdous Azim and Tissa Jayatilaka.
88 entries this year
Founded in 2010 by Surina Narula and Manhad Narula, the DSC Prize has helped raise the profile of South Asian writing. Works are selected on the basis of how poignantly they bring alive a spectrum of themes and emotions relevant to contemporary life in the region.
This year the prize received a record 88 entries. Commenting on the shortlist, Surina Narula, co-founder of the prize, said, “The shortlist represents the very best of South Asian fiction writing, and the depth, creativity and unique narrative of each of these novels is both impressive and inspirational.”
The prize received submissions also from publishers based in the U.K., the U.S., Canada, and Australia, highlighting the growing interest in South Asian writing.
The final winner will be announced at a ceremony to be held at the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet in Kolkata between January 22 and 27, 2019.
